


Big News for the Big Sister

by Skyler10



Series: Family Fic [13]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Babyfic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Fluff, Kid Fic, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 02:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10957605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyler10/pseuds/Skyler10
Summary: Rose and Tentoo have to tell their daughter she's going to be a big sister, but little Piper thinks she's getting a puppy for her birthday...





	Big News for the Big Sister

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jem (allonsymous)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allonsymous/gifts).



> Prompted by jem-scribbles for the kid fic meme: Tentoo x Rose + “So, how should we break the news that they’re going to have a new baby brother or sister?”

Piper Jane Tyler felt like she had a pretty perfect life. She had an uncle who was more of a cool big brother that she didn’t have to live with. She had a gran and grandad who spoiled her and had a big house with a pool. She had a few friends at school and had started dance classes. Her mum and dad were practically superheroes because they saved the world all of the time, and they all traveled together on their TARDIS on the weekends to see all sorts of new fun places. Yep, Piper had to admit, she had it pretty good.

Sure, there were times where she wished they had a puppy, but she just had to wait until the right moment to ask… perhaps her sixth birthday? She would be a big girl, after all. Dad always said six was when all sorts of things happened. He had built his first sonic screwdriver at six, and he said he was sure she would find it to be just as spectacular.

In fact, he’d been dropping hints for a while now that this year was going to be the best ever. Though she was only (almost) six, she was part-Gallifreyan and far ahead of most of the kids in her class, and she was beginning to get suspicious that there was something her parents weren’t telling her.

Piper awoke more fully and sat up in her purple rocket-shaped bed in realization. Maybe they were already getting her a puppy for her birthday and were going to surprise her! She could hardly wait to get up and start the day just to make her birthday come faster.

* * *

At the kitchen table, Rose groaned as her stomach rolled. Again. She nibbled at some toast and sipped her tea to keep the morning sickness at bay.

“I forgot,” she admitted to the Doctor, who was fixing his own breakfast. “I forgot about the sickness and how it feels not to have coffee and the constant tiredness…” She pouted up at him as he dug around in his pocket.  

“Did you also forget about this?” he teased, holding out a bracelet with two crystals from a planet whose name she had long given up on trying to pronounce.

“Oh, you are my hero,” she sighed in relief. They had procured the bracelet during her first pregnancy, and after Piper’s birth, he had stored it away with Rose’s maternity things. As soon as Rose had it back around her wrist, she felt better. The full effect would take a few days to set in, but already she had her appetite back, which would help with everything else.

“Thought it might be about time for that.” He watched her carefully, only satisfied when he saw she was eating again.

“There’s something else it’s about time for that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” she mumbled around bits of toast. She took another drink of her tea and faced him more fully. “Now that Mum and Dad know, it’s only a matter of time before Tony finds out, and when he does…”

“Piper will,” the Doctor finished.

“And I want us to tell her.” Rose rubbed at her small baby bump. “She can’t hear it from him, or overhear Mum saying something, or, I don’t know…”

“So,” he pondered between bites of banana, “how should we break the news that she’s going to have a new baby brother or sister?”  

A gasp from behind them made their eyes go wide, and they turned around slowly to see exactly what they feared.

Piper stood at the entrance to the kitchen, staring at her parents where they sat eating their breakfast in the morning light.

“That’s your surprise?” she finally asked. “I thought…”

“C’mere, princess.” The Doctor held out his arms, and Piper tentatively approached and climbed up into his lap.

“Piper,” Rose began, trying to find the words. She took her daughter’s hands in her own and traced her thumbs across the back of them. “You’re going to be the _best_ big sister, I know it. It won’t always be easy, no, and, yes, a baby is going to change a lot of things around here. But you’re going to love him or her so much, you’ll see.”

The (almost) six-year-old looked skeptical, however, and a little hurt.

“So, we’re not getting a puppy?”

Rose and the Doctor held back laughter at this unexpected reaction.

“No, love, no puppies this year,” Rose confirmed.

“Do you remember how we’ve been talking about when you turn six, and how you’ll be a big girl?” the Doctor prodded, tickling his daughter’s sides.

“Yes,” she giggled from his touch. “I’m going to make my bed and take my dishes to the sink and buckle my own seat belt!”

“Very good, yes.” He nodded and glanced up at Rose. “We might add a few things to that list as the year goes on, like helping Mummy with things and being extra good when she’s tired. Can you do that?”

“Yeah. I can be good.” Piper sighed, then brightened. “If I’m a good big sister, can I have a puppy?”

Rose shook her head but let the Doctor answer.

“Ahhh,” he stalled, scratching the back of his neck. “Well, we’ll see in a few years, how about that? Maybe when this baby is old enough to help you take care of it.”

Rose sent him a look that clearly said _what?!_ but didn’t contradict him aloud.

“Yay!” Piper skipped off happily, leaving the Doctor to redden sheepishly under Rose’s glare.

“You think we can go from one kid to a kid, a baby, and a dog?” she deadpanned.

“No, no,” he backpedaled, waving his hand in explanation. “I said two _kids_ able to take care of it, and only maybe someday a puppy. Plus who knows, she might have a good substitute in the mean time. Pete maaaaay be getting a puppy for Tony for _his_ birthday in a month.”  

She caught his meaning and laughed. “Oh you didn’t. The ones from New Pluto that are good at sports?”

“I most certainly did. Tony and Piper get what they’ve always wanted, and it will live at your mum’s.”

Rose hummed in delight. “Which is a perfect distraction for Mum to stop fussing over my pregnancy this time around.”

“Told you I’m brilliant. Not to mention, Pete’s pretty keen on the idea himself. They don’t shed either, and their athleticism makes them excellent hunting companions.”

“Are they good with babies?” Rose laid a protective hand on her bump again.

“Of course,” he assured with pride. “Wouldn’t suggest it if they weren’t.”

“Still, glad it will be Tony’s. Those dogs on New Pluto are huge…”  

“And not exactly suitable for traveling,” the Doctor agreed. Their banter faded as the obvious topic came to the surface.

“She’s not going to like being Earth-bound for a while,” Rose pointed out the elephant in the room.

“The TARDIS? Meh, she’ll be fine. Not happy,” he acknowledged with a tilt of his head. “But she’ll live.”

“No, I mean, Piper.” Rose sighed. The Doctor raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t considered that. “She loves the TARDIS. And the running and the traveling.”

“Of course she does. She’s ours. And so will this one.” He nodded to her growing middle.

“D’you think… Nah, maybe it’s silly.” Rose brushed it off and returned to her cooling tea.

“What, love? You know I love your brilliant questions. Always asking the best questions, you.”

Rose looked out the kitchen window to their back garden where a tall blue box sat in waiting.

“What if, when it’s not safe for us to travel for a while, what if the TARDIS switched out some of the rooms sometimes? Maybe different playgrounds and such. Think she’d do that for her?”

The Doctor beamed and took their plates to the sink as he answered.

“I’m sure she would! If it’s possible for anyone to love Piper nearly as much as we do, it’s our TARDIS. She’d do anything for her that she can. And our new baby too. I want this new baby to feel just as at home on the TARDIS as he or she can right from the start. I think spending time on board even if we aren’t going anywhere is exactly what we need to do. And when his or her telepathic receptors are developed, they can bond just like Piper did when the TARDIS was growing.”

Rose stood and turned to face him with a smile and the sparkle of happy tears in her eyes. She sniffed and quickly brushed them away in embarrassment as she brought her tea mug to the sink where he was rinsing off their plates.

“What’s wrong, love?” His brow crinkled in concern as he finished with the dishes and dried his hands on a towel.

“Oh, these hormones,” she laughed in dismissal, but when he waited for more, her voice softened and she confessed what had set off the waterworks. “It’s just… you already love this baby so much, and I knew that already of course, but I love hearing you talk about this little one like he or she is… I dunno… _real_. I mean, it is real, but we were trying to get pregnant again for so long, and now, hearing you talk about things like wanting this one to bond with the TARDIS and feel at home there, I just love it.”

He wrapped his arms around her and leaned down for a soft, sweet kiss. He pulled away slightly and rested his hand on her barely showing bump. “I love you, Rose. And our kids.” He made a little hum of happiness and waggled his eyebrows. “Kids, plural. Gonna have to get used to that.”

“You’re not the only one, but I am afraid someone else isn’t as excited as she could be.” Rose sighed and leaned back into his arms. “I’m going to try to talk to her more on the way to school. I just… I want her to know it doesn’t mean we love her any less, you know? I mean, I was in my 20s when my brother was born, and I was still a little jealous. It was weird, seeing another kid call your mum ‘Mum.’”

“Mmm.” He nodded and opened his mouth as if he were going to say more, but then decided against it. She could tell he was thinking about his own brother, but she didn’t push him on it. He did say, “Siblings can be… complicated. But I think Piper will be fine. She just needs time.”

“She won’t be happy when she has to give up her spot on my lap though,” Rose laughed. “Remember what Tony was like when I was huge with Piper those last few months? He said he hoped the baby would come so that he could sit on my lap again.”

“Poor kid.” The Doctor smiled at the memory. “Didn’t know how much babies need to be held by their mums after they are born too.”

“Yet another thing we need to communicate to our girl.” Rose slipped out of his embrace to go get Piper ready for the day.

“There’ll be time. She’ll come around.” He recaptured her to peck another kiss to her lips before she could leave the room entirely. “For now, let’s work on getting her excited. I’ll pick out some movies and find out which of her school friends have siblings.”

“Good plan!” she agreed, impressed. “So clever. Knew there was a reason I married you.”

He laughed and smacked her bum with the dish towel as she winked and walked away.

It wouldn’t be easy to convince Piper that adding a baby to the family was better than a puppy, especially with her uncle getting his own dog soon, but if anyone could win their daughter over to the idea of being a big sister, it was Rose.


End file.
